Amherst Funeral and Cremation Services

If the greatest currency the Funeral business trades in is compassion, then Amherst is bankrupt. This entire episode couldn't be less professional or contemptuous of their clientele. The ease with which they throw out lie after lie is - like someone else's actions since 2016 - "unprecedented". It repulses me to think that if they did this over a simple booking procedure, what respect would they have shown handling my wife's body? Wed, April 13, 2022 4:55 pm - I call Krisha to book April 22, 2022 for a Witness cremation. Krisha will book the date and start the file. 5:16 pm- Krisha calls back for me to bring clothes. Thurs, Apr 14 11:17 am - I call to confirm details about booking with Krisha. - submit "Registration of Death" and "Control of Dispositions" Mon, Apr 18 9:41 am - I call Krisha to confirm location of cremation. 3:50 pm - I call Krisha to confirm last paperwork done. Tue, Apr 19 10:52 am - I call Krisha to add something to the casket for cremation. Wed, April 20, 2022 (TWO DAYS BEFORE THE CREMATION DATE) (2 witnesses on speaker-phone.) 10:22 am - Krisha calls - April 22, 2022 date unavailable due to malfunctioning cremation machine. (I was at crematorium Monday, Apr 18; there was no problem. I tell Krisha that is unacceptable. I call the crematorium later and confirm no malfunction.) 11:05 am - Jessica calls - April 22 date unavailable as paperwork from hospital did not arrive. (No medical certificate of death.) After this, I phone VGH Terminal Cases dept - my wife's body taken: THE HOSPITAL WOULD NOT RELEASE THE BODY WITHOUT CERTIFICATE OF DEATH. 12:44 pm - Christian calls - April 22 date unavailable because all 4 documents they sent were not completed before booking. We argue no one ever told us that; Christian even says that I didn't know about the "new policy of having all 4 forms submitted" because I was a new client! He says booking April 22 was NEVER confirmed. I ask why are there three different reasons for losing the April 22 date? A heated exchange follows, and Christian lets slip that there was an overlap on booking reservations. I end the conversation, saying I will speak to Scott only. This is now FOUR DIFFERENT REASONS I LOST THE APR 22 BOOKING. 5:09 pm - Scott calls; says the law states that they cannot make a booking unless all 4 documents are filed. Tom: "...Tell me where it's written, Scott, where did they tell me that?" Scott: "I'm not....Listen! It's like going out to order a grave dug before someone's dead! No one digs a grave until all the paperwork's done, until there's a burial permit that is registered..." (Remember, I'm only asking about BOOKING A DATE!) I ask about the 3 phone calls earlier today. Scott and Christian say all calls are recorded. "We looked at the calls. Nobody told you that." Christian says the call from Jessica (no hospital papers) is "not even a point at all". Scott goes on more about all 4 documents needing to be filed before booking. I say I was told I could do them as they're done. They repeat 3 times all calls are recorded; push me to take another date - Mon, Apr 25 for cremation. I say I'm coming to listen to the recordings. Scott tells me to call to set a time. Then suddenly changes that to 3pm. (I wonder why?!!) Thur Apr 21 (My family at Amherst office to hear tapes.) Scott is regretful. Says he was misinformed about which documents were submitted first. (So what? What happened to all 4 having to be submitted at the same time?) There were 9 phone conversations overall. We hear recordings 1 and 2 where Krisha will book Apr 22 and to bring clothes. To NO ONE'S SURPRISE, Amherst cannot retrieve #'s 3, 4, 5, 6, where I confirm all details repeatedly, no mention of documents needing to be submitted in time, and # 7 where Krisha calls about the malfunction. Scott complains about the McKinnon & Bowes phone recording service's failure to produce the recordings. "(Why do) I pay these guys a fortune? Call Dan at McKinnon & Bowes!" (Krisha says "no answer".) We hear parts of #8 Jessica/no hospital papers. She says, "I was told to call you..." (BY WHOM?) and when pressed about the malfunction, says "THAT'S ALSO ANOTHER REASON" - proof someone from Amherst called about that! We don't get to #9 about the "new policy/booking overlap". Scott says, "I'm being enlightened in a certain way". He implies that the site manager at the Crematorium wouldn't know about the bookings, and that the receptionist wouldn't know if there was a malfunction. Then he says he saw the booking board and that April 22, 2022 was already booked before April 16 by another company. My sister then asks, if that was the case, why were we still told we had April 22? Was Amherst doing a "bait and switch" where they contract us in for a date, and then force us to take another one? My nephew says, "We're not upset at a date change...THE PROBLEM IS THERE WERE DIFFERENT STORIES AS TO WHY THE DATE WAS CHANGED". Scott says, "I'm upset this didn't go as planned." We remind him WE are the grieving party. He asks rhetorically, "where did this information (malfunction) come from?" Krisha comes in and swears she did not make the call about the malfunction. Scott concedes we were given false information and will check his staff about who made the false calls, OR IF SOMEONE (outside of Amherst) ELSE DID! Incredulously, he asks us to proceed with them to a Monday Apr 25 date. I cancel the contract on the spot and demand all paperwork and my wife's body transferred to another company. He calls them to arrange transfer; waives fee without asking me. THERE IS ZERO MENTION OF THE NEED FOR ALL 4 DOCUMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED BEFORE BOOKING - SO HOW MUCH OF A POLICY WAS IT? Friday Apr 22 My wife's body secured. No mention of the ring. I check Amherst papers where I gave instructions about the ring. I see Amherst made an annotation: "...it is noted with Krisha April 18, 2022 at 9:50am on phone, that cremation is already scheduled for Vancouver Memorial Services..." Scott promised to make changes so this never happens again. When something like this involves the OWNER, EXECUTIVE-DIRECTOR, and OFFICE SUPERVISOR, I have serious doubts - as we all know, you can't change DNA. ps. This is a one star rating because the program won't allow for less.